At a time when the necessity of regular exercise to achieve good general health and fitness, jogging has become one of the most popular forms of exercising. Accordingly, a large number of people of all ages engage in jogging and running activities. It is well known that frequent jogging, when done within reasonable limits, is very beneficial for the general physical conditioning of the runner. It is also well known that jogging has a very serious drawback in that it, oftentimes, causes injuries resulting from the nature of the activity. More particularly, it is well known that knee and back injuries and pains are very common among runners, especially those who carry on such activity frequently and for extended periods of time. Furthermore, such injuries are compounded by the fact that joggers oftentimes use hard terrain such as city streets. The knees and the back are the parts of the body most vulnerable to injuries in the case of joggers because the weight of the body exerts a large amount of strain on those parts while the jogger advances.
In the past, several attempts have been made to reduce the amount of strain being exerted on the jogger's body and, more particularly, on the more vulnerable parts thereof by designing special jogging shoes having cushioned soles to reduce the force being exerted on the jogger's body when the jogger's foot impacts the surface of the terrain. Although those cushioned shoes have contributed significantly to the reduction of injuries sustained by joggers and have allowed joggers to pursue their activity for longer periods of time, due to design limitations in jogging shoes, the desired beneficial objectives have not been realized.
Several devices in the form of a vehicle were developed in the past to be used by a jogger and/or a walker. Some of those devices also provide, to a certain extent, support to the user thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,294 discloses a jogging vehicle having two spaced wheels with a frame extending therebetween. The frame consists of substantially spaced parallel bars with a portion on the bars that may be gripped by the user. The frontal section of the frame has journaled thereto a fork that supports a wheel. The fork is adapted to rotate under restrain so that directional control of the vehicle may be had.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,077,569 discloses a wheel-supported crutch for assisting invalids and others in walking. The device has brake means for applying braking pressure to the wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,843,180 discloses a three-wheel walker's aid, having a generally vertical frame. The upper portion of the frame is connected to a handle. The device further includes brake means for providing braking pressure to one of the wheels of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,180,678 describes a therapeutic or walking exercising vehicle having a frame, two forward and two rearward wheels, a seat, a back rest, and a handle. The apparatus includes means for activating braking pressure on the wheel when the user puts weight on the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,256,035 discloses a walker for invalids. The walker includes a frame having two sides defining a rear opening therebetween, front and rear wheels, a cross-bar between the two sides of the frame, a pair of body supports extending rearwardly from the cross-bar and being adapted to be received under the arm pits of the invalid and means for adjusting the body supports on the cross-bar.
Another valid walker is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,311. The walker includes a rigid frame with improved steerability derived from a combination of uniquely steerable front casters having upwardly and forwardly slanted swivel shafts together with non-swiveling rear wheels that are independently and separately controlled by separate right and left hand brakes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,309 discloses another walker for invalids having a substantially vertical frame being supported by four wheels. The walker includes brake means for applying braking pressure on the wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,426 disloses a weight-relieving ambulator for aiding a patient to walk. The ambulator includes a wheel-supported frame, a harness for supporting the body of the patient, and means for providing tension force that applies a lifting force on the body of the patient. The lifting force relieves at least a part of the weight of the patient on the patient's legs to facilitate walking by said patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,043 discloses a rotatable transfer stand having a round base and an upwardly extending frame. The device is supported by a plurality of casters.
One of the disadvantages of the aforementioned devices is that, with the exception of the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,294, none of the other devices could be utilized by a jogger. Therefore, none of those devices could be used by a jogger for beneficial purposes. Furthermore, even if use by a jogger were possible of any of those devices, none of the beneficial effects being provided by the present invention would be realized by such jogger.
Although it is for the use of a jogger, the jogging vehicle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,294 has the disadvantage of lacking stability and lacking ability to support part of the weight of the jogger or to relieve at least a part of the weight of the jogger on the jogger's knees and back. Furthermore, that vehicle does not provide any means for reducing the force of the impact being exerted on the foot of the jogger when such foot contacts the surface of the terrain. Furthermore, the vehicle does not provide any means of assisting the lifting movement of the foot of the jogger following such impact. Instead, that vehicle increases the amount of effort of the jogger in that it requires the jogger's directional and carrying efforts while jogging.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages by providing a jogging vehicle that relieves at least a part of the weight of the jogger on the jogger's knees and back by distributing the weight to both arms and legs of the jogger to reduce the injuries being sustained by the jogger, reduces the impact force being exerted on the the foot of the jogger when such foot descends on the surface, and provides a lifting force following such descent to assist the jogger in reversing his downward motion after the jogger's foot impacts the ground while advancing. The present apparatus allows joggers that are prone to knee and back injuries to continue their jogging activities without having to resort to water-relaxed exercises as an alternative.
These and various other objects and advantages of the present invention would become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description and claims and by referring to the accompanying drawings.